Why and How is Choice a Fundamental Human Right?
Because choice is what separates humanity from the rest of the animal kingdom.
Animals care only about their survival. They live to seek shelter, food, and a mate to propagate the species. Though it might be a bit of an oversimplification, their choices are limited to just these and a few related elements along these lines.
Humans, on the other hand, are far more complex when it comes to choices. We are designed to not merely do what is necessary for our survival, but also to grow, expand, learn, discover, and ultimately thrive.
Choice by and large is an individual matter. That’s because no two people are alike, and what we desire is equally dissimilar.
Yet choice has been a central point of contention lately across the world. Particularly here in the United States, where 6 people decided to take away choice for hundreds of thousands.
Without getting into a debate about the hot-button topic of abortion, there is a much bigger problem with this decision. Denial of choice. Those 6 people just told countless women they have no choice in matters of their own bodies. That, ultimately, is the greatest tragedy of this backasswards decision.
There is no debate here. Some will argue that there is, but there’s not. And that’s because choice is a fundamental human right, as it’s how we can evolve and grow unlike any other creatures on this planet. It’s a fundamental aspect of our overall mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual makeup.
Where does law come into this?
A lot of people get caught up in blending choice with law.
That’s not to say that in a society and culture shared by lots of people laws aren’t necessarily. They absolutely are. But the line between protection and intrusion often gets blurred.
Take seatbelt laws and helmet laws. Yes, it’s easy to argue that wearing a seatbelt in a car or a helmet on a motorcycle is an individual choice that should not be dictated by law. And I can even see logical reasons to debate it.
But then there is the why of these laws. If we get into a car accident – and a seatbelt would have saved your life – I am now partially responsible for your death. When a motorcyclist suffers a brain injury because they didn’t wear a helmet and I am the paramedic scraping them off the pavement, my life has been impacted by their choice.
This is where laws such as these (and mask mandates during the pandemic) come into play. It’s about the greater good and protecting others in addition to the individuals.
There is a huge difference between a law that protects the general public and a law that interferes with body autonomy.
Choice is a fundamental human right. When it comes to our bodies and what we choose to do with them – on a personal, private matter – is not for the state to decide. Yes, they make some almost-cogent arguments for why it’s their right – but it’s not. Choice is a fundamental human right that should not dictate what anyone can do with his or her body.
This brings me to the next point.
Everyone can make a choice for themselves – but not for anyone else
Has someone made a choice for you that you disagreed with? When they made that choice, did they argue that it was for your own good?
I’ve been there. Odds are, so have you. Once we reach adulthood, we have developed sufficient brain function and life experience to take responsibility for ourselves and our choices. And yes, this is a variable matter I am not going to debate here and now. But I digress.
There is only one person inside your head, heart, and soul. That’s you. Ergo, you, and you alone, know what’s right for you. That means that choices about your life are wholly on you. Nobody else can choose them for you.
Even when we allow someone else direct influence on a given choice – in the end, we choose it.
You make choices all the time. Some are habitual and automatic. Others are subjective or objective and situational. We make choices that are relatively small and others that are ginormous and earth-shattering.
Choice is a fundamental human right.
When you get out of bed; what you eat for breakfast; taking 2 minutes to pet your cat; the route you take to work; who you spend free time with; who you sleep with; where you live; what you do for a living – every single one of these are choices you get to make.
Nobody can make those choices for you.
Those choices might indeed be influenced by outside forces. If, for example, you work 9-5 at an office, you might have little choice but to set your alarm for 7am, do all your morning routine in the next 90 minutes, and get on the road by 8:30 so that you punch the clock on-time – or suffer the consequence that will occur if you’re late.
Taking away choice violates human rights
Those are choices we make for ourselves. Nobody else can make them for us. Even if we cede the choice – we make it.
How do you feel when someone forces something on you? Let’s say that this is something like a dress code; job-related hairstyle requirements; or endless, pointless meetings? You have no choice – do it this way, period. OR there will be consequences. It’s not a good feeling, is it?
Even when it’s relatively benign, it still doesn’t feel good.
What if someone told you that all you can eat for breakfast is something you are not fond of? You have no choice – that’s your only option – no choice at all. Ludicrous, right?
Now imagine (if you are not) that you’re a woman – and you’ve been told you cannot choose what’s right for your body. You have decided you never want children – but no doctor will tie your tubes or perform a hysterectomy without argument, telling you they know better than you and you should reconsider. Or no matter what the reason – you must carry an unwanted pregnancy to term.
That’s what happens every day. Denial of choice. A violation of one of the most fundamental human rights – body autonomy. Not in the name of a societal good (like seatbelts, masks during a pandemic, and helmets for bikers) but in the name of control and the beliefs of a select minority.
That is unacceptable. Denial of choice in this matter and those like it violates the fundamental rights of all human beings.
Choose for yourself
I cannot make a choice about your body. Likewise – you can’t choose for me. I am not you – you are not me. It’s that simple.
Denial of choice denies a fundamental human right that places us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. That’s why women are as outraged as they are – because denying them this choice denies them their equal human rights to men.
If you think this is about abortion – how come only women get targeted and punished, but the men who put them in this position suffer no consequences? Because it’s about control.
If you are against abortion – don’t get one. Don’t like that music or book? Then don’t listen to it or read it. Think your religion is right for you? Great – now accept that it might not be mine or right for me and keep it to yourself. These are all choices – which you alone can choose for yourself. Leave the rest of us out of them.
When I started Pathwalking over a decade ago, it was all about making choices for my life experience. I have shared it – not to bring you to my same conclusions – but to choose your own. The whole point of Pathwalking is to be consciously aware, mindful of the present, and to choose our individual life experiences.
Choice is the point of all philosophy. We choose how to live our lives. The where, what, how, why, when, and who of ourselves are all choices on our parts. Whether we make them – or not.
Your path belongs to you and you alone. And that is a matter of the choices you make for your life experience. Choice is a fundamental human right that belongs to EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. US.
Can you see why and how choice is a fundamental human right for everyone?
This is the five-hundred and forty-ninth exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – using mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.
I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.
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